Scaling is the most common challenge that reverse osmosis (RO) membranes encounter in potable reuse applications due to the high product recovery. Usage of antiscalants or pH adjustment can suppress scale formation on membranes without sacrificing overall recovery. A series of experiments was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of two different antiscalants (phosphonate-based and acrylic acid-based) and pH adjustment for the inhibition of scaling on polyamide RO membranes during the separation of microfiltration (MF) treated secondary effluent wastewater. Product recovery was targeted at 50%, increasing the residual concentration of scale forming ions by a factor of 2 in the feed. Substantial scale formation, dominated by calcium carbonate, was observed during the separation of the feed. In the presence of antiscalants, calcium carbonate scaling was successfully abated, while iron based scalants did not significantly decrease. Phosphonate-based antiscalants were found to be more effective in inhibiting calcium carbonate scaling as compared to acrylic acid-based antiscalants. As such, RO membranes treated with phosphonate-based antiscalants demonstrated lower permeate flux decline and less calcium scale deposition on membrane surfaces under the tested conditions. The addition of a strong acid to control scaling is a less expensive alternative to antiscalant addition. pH adjustment using sulfuric acid was effective for the inhibition of calcium carbonate scaling. However, acid addition resulted in corrosion of piping leading to considerable leaching of iron and copper into the feed. The presence of iron and copper adversely increased the scaling potential of the membranes.

由于高产品回收率，缩放是反渗透（RO）膜在便携式重复使用应用中遇到的最常见挑战。使用防垢剂或调节pH值可以抑制膜上结垢的形成，而不会影响总回收率。进行了一系列实验，以评估两种不同的防垢剂（基于膦酸盐的溶液和基于丙烯酸的溶液）的有效性以及通过调节pH值来抑制微滤（MF）处理过的二级废水分离过程中聚酰胺RO膜结垢的效果。产品回收率的目标是50％，使进料中结垢离子的残留浓度增加2倍。在进料分离过程中观察到形成大量的碳酸钙为主的水垢。在防垢剂的存在下，碳酸钙结垢已成功消除，而铁基结垢没有明显减少。与基于丙烯酸的防垢剂相比，发现基于磷酸盐的防垢剂在抑制碳酸钙结垢方面更有效。这样，在测试条件下，用膦酸酯类防垢剂处理过的反渗透膜表现出较低的渗透通量下降和较少的钙垢沉积在膜表面。添加强酸来控制水垢是添加防垢剂的较便宜的替代方法。使用硫酸调节pH对抑制碳酸钙结垢有效。但是，添加酸会导致管道腐蚀，从而导致铁和铜大量浸入进料中。